The Self-Confident Female and the Deferent Male: Self-Perceptions of Psychologists and Lawyers.

Fallo-Mitchell, Linda; Mosatche, Harriet S.

Previous research on the personality traits and needs of professional women has found that women in nontraditional roles possess traits that are more characteristic of the male sex role, and that in many instances they are higher on those traits. To determine sex and occupational differences in the self-perceptions of male and female psychologists and lawyers, 65 psychologists (31 males, 34 females) and 71 lawyers (41 males, 30 females) completed Gough's Adjective Check List. Responses were categorized into 24 scales, based on Murray's (1938) need-trait system. An analysis of the results showed no differences based on occupation, nor any significant interactions between sex and occupation. However, women used more favorable adjectives in their self-descriptions than did men. In addition, women viewed themselves as higher in self-confidence, achievement, dominance, autonomy, aggression, and change than did men. Men perceived themselves as higher in abasement and deference needs. Comparisons of individuals in more disparate jobs might have yielded more divergent self-perceptions. (BL)